Sierra Leone\u2019s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Hon. Joseph Bandabla Dauda, has said that the All People\u2019s Congress (APC) Government has not imported arms and ammunition to equip a paramilitary force, as stated by the former Executive Representative of the United Nations Secretary General, Mr. Michael Von Schulenburg, during the UN Security Council Debate on Sierra Leone in New York last Thursday.<\/p>\n
Hon. Dauda clarified that the order for the arms importation\u00a0and the delivery\u00a0referred to by Schulenburg were routine, to equip the Sierra Leone army and the Police, and\u00a0it was made long ago and had nothing to do with recent events or the forthcoming elections. It was a routine importation of arms and ammunition for the Sierra Leone armed forces in general – as done by all other countries – to\u00a0make their armed forces fully equipped to handle threats to internal peace and national sovereignty. It was not an unusual event, the minister further clarified and thus he saw no reason for Mr. Schulenburg\u2019s reference to the importation as an act of national concern.<\/p>\n
During Thursday\u2019s Security Council Meeting to consider the Report of the UN Secretary General on the United Nations Integrated Peace building Office in Sierra Leone ( UNIPSIL ) for the past six months, Mr. Schulenburg , who is aggrieved for being recalled by the UN months before the end of his tenure, alleged that “the Government has imported assault weapons worth millions of dollars in January of this year to equip a recently enlarged Para-military wing of its police, the Operational Services Division (OSD)\u201d, and this , \u00a0he said,\u00a0\u00a0was \u201cof great concern. \u201d \u00a0He directed: \u201cI would urge the Government to fully clarify these reports and, if true, explain the intended use of these weapons.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Minister said that it was a logical and natural thing for any country to equip its armed forces. He pointed out that Sierra Leone had an unfortunate experience 19 years ago when the armed forces were so ill-equipped that they had to abandon the battle field when rebels of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), led by Foday Sankoh, invaded the country. The invasion led to an 11-yesr civil war that killed over 200, 000 people and left the country’s infrastructure in ruins. \u201cWe cannot wait until there is\u00a0another war or threat to our national security\u00a0before we arm ourselves. We have to beef up our security forces before any attack on our sovereignty\u201d, the minister stressed.<\/p>\n
Minister Dauda said that the arms importation was totally unrelated to the forthcoming elections. \u201cWhen you look at the massive and magnificent infrastructural developments that this government has undertaken, it would be foolhardy for anybody to think that this government would go on the path of chaos that will destroy these infrastructures it had laboured to put up. Besides the government is certain to win the elections\u201d<\/p>\n
The minister said that the alarm raised by Mr. Schulenburg was mischievous. He reiterated the point that \u201cEvery nation has a right to beef up its security forces for national protection\u201d,\u00a0asserting that \u201cthere is no country in the world that is not amassing defensive weapons. No country wants to be taken unawares as it happened to us on March 23, 1991. Thus equipping your security forces cannot be treated as any event to create alarm\u201d, he continued.<\/p>\n
Asked whether it was true that there was a leaked Bill of Laiding as claimed by Schulenburg and how he thought this document was leaked, if true, the Foreign Minister said there was no secret around the arms importation because it was routine -Something that governments do at regular intervals. \u201cThe arms importation was followed by the normal documents that follow shipment. Those documents can be got from the Customs Department. There was nothing illegal about it so I do not understand what he meant by leaked bill of laiding\u201d, he further explained.<\/p>\n
Asked about Schulenburg\u2019s other allegation that there was an expansion of the Operational Services Division (OSD) of the Police, Foreign Minister Dauda said that too was routine. \u201cWe do not have to wait for war or for any threat to our national sovereignty. We have to increase the size of the Police to be able to deploy them throughout the country if there was any threat to the peace and security of the nation. As a government, we have a duty to ensure that we are able to respond swiftly and efficiently to threats to our national security .This is what any efficient government that is committed to the welfare and safety of its people does.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked whether he made this credible-sounding clarification to members of the Security Council following Schulenburg\u2019s allegations, the Minister said he had a meeting with the Chinese ambassador. \u201d I explained to him on a bilateral basis.\u201d He however added: \u201cBut as a sovereign nation, we cannot be made to account to anybody for the security measures we take. I cannot see ourselves having to explain to Schulenburg the moves we take to protect and defend our country. The other members of the Security know that we cannot sit down and wait until our country is invaded or our internal security threatened before we take security measures. They know that all other country buy arms too. There is nothing to explain. \u201d<\/p>\n
Asked whether the Police would be able to provide watertight security to ensure free and fair elections, the Foreign Minister reiterated President Koroma\u2019s commitment to make sure that the elections are conducted in an atmosphere of peace and transparency. He said that the Police now have the necessary training and equipment to protect and defend the country and he had no doubt that the Police will do all that is required to make the elections safe for everybody.<\/p>\n
The Minister attributed some of the hysteria in the country to the sense of inadequacy being felt by the opposition Sierra Leone People\u2019s Party (SLPP). \u201cBecause they do not have any program for the socio-economic and political development of the country, they have decided to concentrate on creating panic. But this is understood by the people of Sierra Leone and the international community. The SLPP also said that we were arming ex-combatants for the elections but it was found to be untrue,\u201d the minister explained.<\/p>\n
Hon. Dauda said that the APC Government\u2019s standing with the international community is excellent. \u201cAt the Security Council meeting, we were commended for making considerable progress in consolidating peace and security and building a better future for our nation. The economic forecast under us is also good. Structures we have also put together to ensure free and fair elections like the biometric registration were also commended,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n
Stay with Sierra Express Media, for your trusted place in news!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Sierra Leone\u2019s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Hon. Joseph Bandabla Dauda, has said that the All People\u2019s Congress (APC) Government has not imported […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":35374,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[673,692,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37466","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national-news","category-politics","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37466","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=37466"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37466\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=37466"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=37466"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=37466"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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